Funding the Future

Most people believe the national debt is a danger to our economy. In this video, I explain why that story is wrong. National debt isn’t a burden; it is our money supply. Every pound, dollar, euro or yen in circulation exists because governments run deficits that create the currency we all use.

So if every country is in debt, who owns it? The answer is revealing. More than 80% of global government debt is privately owned — and largely by pension funds, life assurance companies and, ultimately, the world’s wealthiest households. The 1% benefit enormously from the interest payments we all fund.

I also explore what we can do about this: lower interest rates, tax unearned income fairly, and bring more of the money supply under democratic control.

If you want to understand how our economy really works — and why politicians keep getting this wrong — this video is for you.

What can ordinary people do if the financial crash many economists fear is coming?

In this video, I explain some practical, calm, and sensible steps to improve your financial resilience without panic and without doom-mongering.

From securing savings and pensions to food security and holding a little cash, these tips help you think ahead when the government won’t.

Six months on, this video is as relevant as when we first made it, except a crash is probably nearer now. 

Every time stock markets drop, headlines say that billions have been lost. But where does that money actually go? If you want to understand crashes, confidence, and the baked bean market (trust me), this one’s for you.

Too many campaigners talk about what’s wrong, but never explain what must change or how it could happen.

Real campaigning means finding solutions: identifying causes, proposing reforms, and then doing the maths on the finances to show how they would work in practice.

In this video, I explain what effective campaigning looks like, why technical detail matters, and why those who want real social and economic justice must deal with funding, finance and resource allocation.

We need movements that create real change,  and not just outrage, but without addressing finance, we'll get nowhere.

People feel politics has nothing to do with them — and they’re right to feel ignored. In this video, I explain why our democracy is failing, why so many feel powerless, and how we can put people back in charge. From proportional representation to revived local democracy and citizens’ assemblies, this is a practical plan to rebuild trust and participation.

If you believe politics should serve the public, not the powerful, this is the video for you.

Modern Monetary Theory — or modern money as I prefer to call it — simply describes the truth about how money works in the real economy.

Governments create new money every time they spend. Taxation removes money from the economy to control inflation. That’s not a theory: it’s how the Bank of England says money works.

So why do politicians insist the government can “run out of money”? Why do they say the NHS can’t be funded, but war and bank bailouts always can?

In this video, I share 12 essential questions to challenge politicians when they deny economic reality — and ensure the power of money is used for people, not for the wealthy few.

The Bank of England has issued a stark new Financial Stability Report — and beneath the cautious language lies a clear message: the global risk environment has deteriorated sharply. From AI bubble valuations to fragile shadow banking systems, from overstretched credit markets to potential contagion across sovereign debt, a systemic crisis now looks more like “when” than “if”.

In this video, I explain what the Bank is really saying, why markets are repeating 2008 mistakes, and why the UK is deeply exposed.

There are thousands of trained doctors in the UK right now — unemployed. Not because they’re unnecessary. Not because there’s no demand. But because the government refuses to fund the NHS roles we desperately need.

In this video, Richard Murphy explains how government austerity, fiscal dogma, and a fundamental misunderstanding of money are forcing young doctors out of medicine — and even out of the country — while people are left waiting for treatment.

If we have the doctors, we can fund the doctors. So why won’t they?

Is the Office for Budget Responsibility really protecting the UK economy, or enforcing austerity? I argue that the OBR was designed to remove democratic control over fiscal policy, block investment, and prioritise City interests over public wellbeing. In that case, it's time to get rid of it and put economic democracy back at the heart of government.

British politics is broken. The old left vs right divide no longer explains what is happening. Instead, we face a new choice: care or neglect. In this video, I explain how all major UK parties have converged on the same neoliberal economic model — and why we need a politics of care instead to fund a future worth living.